RESULTS: PSA International 50 CIMB Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
11-Sep, Qualifying Finals:
Qualifying finals: Abdullah Al Muzayen (KUW) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 11-9, 11-9,
11-9 (44m) Omar Abdel Meguid (EGY) v Max Lee (HKG) (match not
completed) Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) bt Muhd Asyraf Azan (MAS) 9-11,
11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9 (99m) Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry (EGY) bt Alan Clyne (SCO) 9-11,
13-15, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 (56m)
Less
than seven hours after surviving a marathon rescheduled semi-final
match, England's Peter Barker triumphed over defending champion
Tarek Momen in today's final of the CIMB Malaysian Open to
win the PSA World Tour International 50 squash event at the
Curve Shopping Mall in Petaling Jaya in Selangor for
the first time.
An
accidental clash with Spanish opponent Borja Golan's racket in
the semis resulted in the Englishman sustaining a severe nosebleed - and
the match being rescheduled for 9.00am this morning
It
took 99 minutes for the second-seeded Londoner to earn his place in the
final - and only hours later, before a packed crowd surrounding the
all-glass court, Barker was back in action against defending champion
Tarek Momen, the No4 seed from Egypt, in the climax.
"Tarek
didn't start as well as he would have liked, always being a few points
behind in the opening game, Barker winning 11-5," said event spokesman
Andrew Cross. "In the second it was similar with Barker leading
all the way but then when Barker got to nine points he hit three unusual
errors and Tarek took advantage to win the game 11-9 - the first time
Tarek had led at any point in the match.
"The
third was close up until the midpoint of the game when Barker
(pictured above, foreground, in the final) broke clear to win 11-5.
In the fourth, with Tarek now with his back against the wall, Barker ran
out an easy winner 11-3 to win his first CIMB Malaysian Open title."
Speaking to Kng Zheng Guan of the Malaysia Star, Barker
said: "I think my nose is broken. It's usually not like this and it's
really sore. I'm going to fly home tonight and see my doctor tomorrow
morning.
"Let
him tell me the bad news. But I don't care - it's worth it!
"I'm
absolutely delighted to win the title, as the last time I came here I
won the KL Open in 2009," added the world No7 from London who has now
won his 15th Tour title. "I'm coming into some form at the moment and to
beat both Borja and Tarek on the same day is a treat."
Later,
Barker conceded: "I'm obviously delighted to win this week - it's quite
possibly the highlight of my career, beating Borja and Tarek within a
few hours of each other with a dodgy honker!
"I am
genuinely a little lost for words right now and I have too many people
to thank. You know who you are: thank you for your support, love and
continued encouragement."
Momen
Makes Second Malaysian Open Final
Egypt's title-holder Tarek Momen will make his second successive
appearance in the final of the CIMB Malaysian Open after
prevailing in today's semi-finals of the PSA World Tour International
50 squash event at the Curve Shopping Mall in Petaling
Jaya in Selangor.
The
25-year-old world No10 from Cairo was taking on Chris Simpson,
the unseeded Englishman who was appearing in the semi-finals against
expectation after upsetting top seed Karim Darwish.
Momen
went into the match boasting a 1/0 career head-to-head advantage over
Simpson - but it was the 26-year-old underdog who took the lead.
Momen
drew level, but again Simpson - ranked 15 places lower - regained the
advantage after taking the third.
The
defending champion pulled out all the stops in his bid to return to the
final - ultimately closing out the match 6-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-5
after 69 minutes to reach the ninth Tour final of his career, but the
first since his Curve triumph 12 months ago.
"He
has improved a lot and he was very sharp and his drives were glued to
the wall," said Momen, whose fiancée Raneem El Weleily, the
women's champion, also won her semi-final match today. "Me and Raneem
really scared everyone today so we will see what happens tomorrow!"
Simpson added: "It's the first competition of the season, so it's a
great start for me. I would have loved to have made the final but need
to take the positives from it. I got the tactics right for four games
but then I got a bit tired and my mind went - but credit to Tarek.
"I
would like to thank the crowd for their fantastic support this week."
The
other semi-final pitted England's No2 seed Peter Barker against
third-seeded Spaniard Borja Golan.
"The
opening game was long and hard with Barker winning it 11-9," reported
event spokesman Andrew Cross. "At the beginning of the third,
with Barker leading 3-1, Borja swung and on the follow through caught
Peter on the nose causing blood to flow, and it seems Peter has
fractured his nose."
The
match was suspended and has been rescheduled for 9.00am local time
tomorrow (Sunday).
Title-Holder Tarek Tears Into Selangor Semis
Defending champion Tarek Momen produced his speediest victory in
more than a year when he despatched fellow Egyptian Mazen Hesham Ga
Sabry at the CIMB Malaysian Open today to reach the
semi-finals of the PSA World Tour International 50 squash event
at the Curve Shopping Mall in Petaling Jaya in Selangor.
Fourth
seed Momen, the world No10, was in no mood to give his Cairo colleague
any room for manoeuvre - taking just 20 minutes to remove the
19-year-old qualifier 11-3, 11-9, 11-6.
Momen
(pictured above, left, with Ga Sabry) with now faces England's
Chris Simpson in a bid to reach the final for the third time in four
years.
Simpson continued his relentless surge through the event, earning his
first ever win over India's higher-ranked Saurav Ghosal to become
the only unseeded player in the last four.
The
breakthrough 6-11, 12-10, 11-9, 11-9 victory in 76 minutes came just 24
hours after a career-first win over Karim Darwish, the top seed
and a former world number one from Egypt.
"I'm
over the moon with both of my wins," said world No25 Simpson after
collecting his thoughts in Selangor. "Yesterday's was very unexpected! I
feel that I have made some good improvements this summer, and was eager
to get stuck into Darwish - but he is a great player that has achieved
so much, and although I thought I could push him hard I wasn't
necessarily expecting to win!
"The
first game was a real shock to me, I couldn't read any of his shots. I
was forced into a lot of awkward movements. But from the end of that
game onwards I felt that I got my tactics right, managed to get into
some longer rallies and ask some questions of Karim physically.
"The
second game was crucial, and once I got that I knew I was in with a
shout. It was a shame that the match had to end as it did, and I hope
Karim hasn't done himself any lasting damage.
"Today
was another great match. Again I was being completely outplayed, and
couldn't find any way of troubling Saurav's speedy game for the first
game and a half. After this it became nip and tuck, and it was really
down to who could play the big points better. I was lucky that today
that happened to be me!
"I'm
looking forward to playing Tarek. He's an in-form player, but I have
nothing to lose and you can't help but look forward to the occasion of
playing in such a spectacular setting."
The
other semi will be the one predicted by the draw, between England's No2
seed Peter Barker and third-seeded Spaniard Borja Golan.
Londoner Barker took on local favourite Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan, the
wild card who upset former champion and fellow Malaysian Ong Beng Hee
in the previous round. Barker began strongly moving the ball around the
court making his opponent do a lot of work.
"Whereas Wan was able to capitalise on the loose balls yesterday, today
things just didn't quite work for him," explained tournament spokesman
Andrew Cross. "The pressure that Barker was providing was intense
and when Wan had a chance he couldn't quite decide what shot to play.
Sometimes he would hit the ball back at himself or the tin."
Adnan
got back into the match in the third game to reduce Barker's lead. "In
the fourth Barker was back to it keeping the intensity high and the
pressure on Wan, building up a 9-0 lead before Wan got his first point
much to the delight of the crowd and himself," continued Cross. "He got
another point but Barker had soon wrapped up the match 11-8, 11-0, 7-11,
11-2."
Golan,
the world No9, recovered from a game down to beat Egypt's Karim Abdel
Gawad 8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-5 in a 104-minute marathon.
Simpson
Downs Darwish In Malaysian Open Shock
Unseeded Englishman Chris Simpson scored one of the best wins of
his career when he upset top seed Karim Darwish in today's first
round of the CIMB Malaysian Open, the PSA World Tour
International 50 squash event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash
Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
Making
his debut in the event, the Guernsey-born world No25 recovered from the
loss of the first game to take the next two before the Egyptian former
world number one conceded the match after just three points of the
fourth game.
"The
first game was close with Chris holding the advantage but just losing
out 11-9," explained event spokesman Andrew Cross. "In the
beginning of the second, Darwish took a fall in the front backhand
appearing to slip on some sweat - and a three-minute injury break was
awarded. He continued and looked fine.
"In
the middle of the third, Darwish began to look a little flat and Chris
ran away from 4-4," Cross continued. "After three rallies in the fourth
Darwish offered his hand and that was the end of the match."
After
his 9-11, 17-15, 11-4, 2-1 (ret.) victory, the jubilant Simpson said: "I
wasn't expecting to beat Darwish - I have a flight home tonight which I
will now need to change. I wanted to ask some questions of him
physically and see where it got me.
"I
thought I deserved to win the second a bit easier but the fact it was so
hard probably worked for me better. The second was crucial - I'm pretty
happy it extended to 17-15 rather than 11-8."
In the
quarter-finals, which take place on an all-glass showcourt at the
Curve Shopping Mall in Selangor, Harrogate-based Simpson will
line up against Saurav Ghosal, the Indian number one who defeated
Egyptian qualifier Omar Abdel Aziz 11-5, 11-9, 11-3.
"I'm
looking forward to playing Saurav tomorrow," Simpson continued. "I've
never beaten him before - hopefully it will be a good match. It's always
a clean match with him.
"I'm
definitely looking forward to playing at the Curve as one of the best
venues in the world, really looking forward to playing there."
Another significant upset took place when Egyptian qualifier Mazen
Hesham Ga Sabry outplayed experienced Finnish opponent Olli
Tuominen 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-6. The teenager from Cairo will now
face fellow countryman Tarek Momen, the defending champion ranked
ten in the world who beat Australian Cameron Pilley, ranked just
four places lower, 11-9, 10-12, 11-4, 11-2.
"Very
happy to win," said Ga Sabry after his shock upset. "Playing Tarek
tomorrow will be tough - he is better than me but I'm looking forward to
it."
Al
Muzayen Makes Malaysian Open Draw
Kuwaiti Abdullah Al Muzayen, who reached last year's CIMB
Malaysian Open quarter-finals as a qualifier, will have the chance
to repeat his heroics in the 2013 event after surviving today's
qualifying finals of the PSA World Tour International 50 squash
event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in Kuala
Lumpur.
The
25-year-old world No39 broke local hearts when he beat Malaysian hope
Ivan Yuen 11-9, 11-9, 11-9 in 44 minutes.
Al
Muzayen will now face Egypt's new world No20 Karim Abdel Gawad in
the main draw.
Scot
Alan Clyne and Egyptian Mazen Hesham Ga Sabry arrived in
KL fresh from PSA Tour title success last week - Clyne in New Zealand
and Ga Sabry in India. Clyne looked in better shape, taking a two-game
lead over the 19-year-old from Cairo.
But
teenager Ga Sabry had plenty in reserve - fighting back to level the
match before clinching victory after 56 minutes in a 9-11, 13-15, 11-8,
11-4, 11-6 scoreline.
Fellow
Egyptian Omar Abdel Aziz, however, survived the day's longest
encounter - twice recovering from leads by his Malaysian opponent to
beat Muhd Asyraf Azan 9-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-7, 11-9 in 99 minutes.
A
collision at 10-all in the fourth game between Omar Abdel Meguid
of Egypt and Hong Kong's Max Lee - with Lee already having had
match-balls - led to the Hong Kong player suffering a severe nose bleed.
Play was halted for more than an hour before officials decided that it
would continue the next day.
